Bethlehem attorney sent to prison on repeat DUI charges

Chrystyna M. Fenchen sent to prison after failing to show up for an alcohol test.

June 28, 2013|By Riley Yates, Of The Morning Call

A longtime Bethlehem attorney charged with repeatedly driving drunk was sent to prison Friday after violating the conditions of her bail for a third time by missing an alcohol test.

Chrystyna M. Fenchen, 63, was taken in handcuffs out of a Northampton County courtroom where she often practices — a judge ordering her bail revoked and forfeited after she failed to show Tuesday for the random urine testing she was required to undergo.

Fenchen, an attorney since 1980, specializes in family law matters such as divorce, custody and child support. She has a history of drunken-driving arrests, and served a stint in Northampton County Prison in 2007 for DUI.

Fenchen faces two third-offense charges from this year, which would each bring mandatory minimum sentences of one year behind bars if she is convicted. She had been free after posting $7,500 after twice having her bail increased , said pretrial services officer Kathryn Johansen.

Defendants who are subject to random urine screenings phone a recorded hotline each day that tells them whether they need to go in for a test. In court, Fenchen said she calls the number "religiously" but that the group she is assigned did not come up Monday night; Johansen said others in Fenchen's situation did show as required Tuesday.

Fenchen pleaded with McFadden to stay out of jail, saying that she is expected in court on behalf of clients, and has health problems that include Lyme disease and foot surgery that is scheduled in July. Her defense attorney, Steven Goudsouzian, called the violation a "technical" one, and said his client voluntarily underwent an alcohol test on Thursday.

Fenchen, who attended court with her sobriety sponsor, denied drinking.

"I've been a member of the bar for a long time and I would certainly not violate an order of this magnitude," Fenchen said.

Fenchen was charged after she was found stopped in her car Feb. 6 on East Market Street in Bethlehem, an open bottle of vodka inside, according to court records. She initially denied drinking alcohol, but almost fell over during field sobriety tests, police said.

A witness told investigators that Fenchen had been driving very slowly and swerving back and forth, nearly striking parked vehicles. At two intersections, the witness said, Fenchen sat through several cycles of green lights, according to court records.

Her blood alcohol level was 0.28 percent, or more than three times the legal limit for driving, police said.

Already facing the Bethlehem allegations, Fenchen was charged by Lower Saucon police after she was found April 25 behind the wheel with an open bottle of vodka in her car, according to court records. She refused to have her blood drawn.

In 2007, Fenchen served 90 days to five years in Northampton County Prison after driving drunk in May and July 2006. She spent 28 days of her term at an inpatient rehabilitation center for alcohol abuse.

Fenchen, who lives in Lower Saucon Township, also had a drunken driving arrest in 1998, when she was accepted into a first-offender program that allowed her to avoid a criminal conviction.